Aniblog Tourney Round 2

Mmkay, as I am facing off against the tyrant of the Cretaceous Period in the Aniblog Tourney today, I know there is very little that I can do to increase my odds of winning. I mean, really, who could beat Baka-Raptor with a blog about art that doesn’t make fun of anything!? Tsk tsk.

I don’t even have any posts of substance on the front page to greet anyone with (please proceed to the other pages…!).

So instead, I’m going to do something different with this post and ask you guys for constructive (or just demeaning!) criticism on my blog. I know there is much I can do to improve, but I know that there is much else that you guys can probably find for me to improve instead.

Things like, the way I write posts, the way I use images, the way I link to them (Lately I’ve been trying to upload the image here directly…it’s just annoying), etc. I can only see my blog from the perspective of the writer, but as the readers, you all can see much more.

Elderly posts. Please be kind to them!

62 comments

Good luck, and yeah, Baka-Raptor is a polemic, and polemics always attract more readers. If people LOVE you, they will read you, if people HATE you they will also read you.
If they either like you a bit or dislike you a bit, you’re going to languish.

300 hits/day! I’ve only broken 300 once, probably never to return, but I digress.

Since this is supposed to be about this blog here. I guess I’ve noticed that most of the posts fit into a set structure (teaser part of pixiv art, thoughts about the subject, then broader look into the art itself), which taken at an individual level work very well for people interesting in art critique and the like. I guess the main issue would be on a larger scale it would be too easy to say that most of the posts look the same and the potential audience isn’t that large. Otherwise, you do a very good job at what you are doing, and I still come back here even though I have almost no idea what to look for in art, so that should say something.

Sounds oddly reminiscent of Euthyphro right there. Plato said some smart things.

But in all seriousness, I don’t think that’s a helpful description at all. In fact, I wouldn’t even describe Baka-Raptor’s posts as manly… I find such humor to be more weasel-like than anything, but I still laugh.

I like what you do here. From a reader’s perspective, I can say that I prefer your art posts over your editorials simply because there’s a lot of competition for posts on anime and almost no competition for posts on art. Of course, you also have to try different things to gain experience, but don’t forget that your main focus is what brings a lot of readers back.

I’m not really interested in this aniblog tourney thing apart from the fact that it alerts people to blogs they hadn’t seen before. I’ve just added this one to my feedreader so in that sense at least, it works!

I find getting images to be a chore too but there’s a WP plugin called Faster Image Insert that makes it a bit easier. If you’re not using it already, it might help.

As for winning a popularity contest against Baka Raptor, I can’t think of anything to suggest. Good luck I guess, and may the best blog win!

Not trying to suck up or anything, but I think your blog is pretty much perfect. I caqn usually think up a thousand and one things to criticize aniblogs for, but Paper Flower simply… passes.

Of course, I’d love it if you could prove me wrong and make your blog better…

P.S.: Nevermind, looks like I won’t be giving out my perfect blog award just yet. I don’t have pixiv, so I don’t like how I can’t see the full versions of some pictures you post. I’m not going to get into my laziness or artist accredation, but it just bugs me.

Also, the newsletter was a major fail. I unsubscribed from it because I was just so uninterested in it (I enjoy one art post at a time, but eight compact ones in one bundle? No thank you!)

Of course, don’t take this criticism too heavily. I love your blog, and that’s not something I can say (or do say) to anybody.

!? Such high praise! I wouldn’t have expected it.
I don’t even know why you like it so much–what do I do that other people don’t? Other than ramble on about art to excess. Heh heh.

I’ve started linking to the full version of the image instead of the Pixiv page for it, and I’m going to try to keep it up this time instead of sinking back into laziness. So you can get rid of that black mark?

Well…then, i don’t think you can beat his majesty, but as long as you are up the challenge, i guess i’ll cheer for you and wish you the best of lucks and give you all the affection from the bottom of my heart …

But even with all these high vibes, i definitly will not vote for you.

Agree with one of the above comments that navigation would be a bit easier. Though the clean and stripped down look of the blog definitely has its merits. (Often I feel even a sidebar as on mine is too cluttered, yet I understand the theme limitations you face.)

Personally I enjoy to read all the art related posts of anime based posts that actually delve into the art made about that anime. They usually showcase terrific art and have a nice ring to them.

Blogs like Baka-Raptor… well let’s just say I’m not a fan nor have any interest in such type of blogs. If I want to read something really funny, I’ll read Yotsuba& and some populist blog like that. Fail to see the appeal it has to people, though gather that’s just an age thing.

I enjoy your bits about art. The layout is simple, and it’s easy to read, and I like your choice of pictures to head the posts.

In my opinion, the real reason why Baka-Raptor is so popular has to do with several factors that simply don’t favor your blog. I suspect that the vast majority of the readership is male-dominated, particularly for Baka-Raptor, and thus I feel that his posts may speak out to more people. Another is simply the choice of topics; pixiv remains a Japanese website that may put off even those remotely interested in the art behind it. And, as fangzhao said, perhaps we don’t find too many people simply interested in the art theory behind the works themselves in the English blogosphere. I’m not sure about this though.

However, I do think you should hold yourself in higher esteem. For example, I really enjoyed your Faust post. I order it regularly along with other novels/manga at whatever local Japanese bookstore (Sanseidou or Kinokuniya). It was nice to see someone who has read it in the English blogosphere. You post good stuff, so I don’t think you need to worry too much.

Hmm, okay. Thanks! (I didn’t think anyone had even read my Faust post since it was long and rambling, but Google search hit getter ftw?)

Baka-Raptor’s blog is also more amusing that mine…which definitely helps him. I certainly don’t feel like my blog is crap or anything, but I know better than to think that I should consider myself as some sort of awesome blogger…;;;

Your blog is good, like many people said, but we need more spunk and spice to add to the posts. Creativity. You have to make it clear why people should read your posts over other anime blogs. That doesn’t go and mean you go post 1000000 posts on why Angel Beats didn’t live up to its expectations but just enjoy the little things and spend some more time adding the stuff that’s going to be fun to read.

As you may have heard, the Anime Blog Awards took place about two years ago. I’d had my site for a little over two years at that point, but I’d only been interacting with the anime blogosophere for about a month. Here are the results of the nominations: I got four votes for best comedy blog. Four measly votes. The moral of the story is that quality doesn’t determine votes; reputation does, and reputation lags behind quality. You’ve been blogging for 9 months. I’ve been blogging for 51 months. You weren’t going to beat me, and there’s certainly no shame in losing to someone who’s put more than 5x as much time and effort into his site.

You have a very good blog. It’s unique because there aren’t many art blogs in the anime blogosphere, but because of that it’s up to you to figure out how to make your art posts as fun and interesting as possible, since you don’t really have anyone’s lead to follow. Your editorials are middle-of-the-line in my opinion. That’s definitely not a bad place to be, especially since your editorials seem designed to have more of a blog feel than an essay feel. Honestly, the only way to level up is through experience. And mountain training.

If I had expected to beat you, I would have been foolish. Be it for purposes of time spent alive or content. And I probably would have felt like there was something wrong if I had.

Mountain training! But there are no mountains here! Or even hills, really.

My issue is that I don’t know if people find my posts fun and interesting. Am I a person who is worth reading? What can I do to make myself better? I can’t say for myself because I just write freely and don’t worry much about it until after I’ve posted and start thinking about reactions. I hope I’m worth reading, but I have no idea. It seems to me like the people who like this blog are semi-insane or like me more as a person than as a blogger.

I don’t intend to write editorials that read like a five-star essay. Perhaps I should; perhaps I should just keep doing what I’m doing. I certainly don’t wish to stop writing editorials–even I need a break from art sometimes.